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42 |
A CHRISTMAS DINNER. |
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Either the chicken ragout or the hashed venison may be poured into the center, to the exceeding gratification of both the sight and the palate.
To dress cold boiled potatoes a la moitie d'hotel, put 2 ounces of butter in a deep frying-pan or a stew-pan and add to it 4 tablespoon-fuls of gravy, 1 of minced parsley, 1 teaspoonful of minced lemon peeling and 1 tablespoonful of lemon juice ; stir over the fire till the butter is melted. Take the cold potatoes (about 1 pound all together), cut them into slices about one-third of an inch thick, lay them in this mixture, cover the pan and let them stew gently for one-quarter of an hour.
Now, having got through our bill of fare, we will just follow its various items to the end of their career: In the first place you made 3 quarts of soup stock, of which 2 quarts were served in the shape of Julienne soup and the third used for gravies and sauces. Of the 2 quarts sent to the table you will probably find quite 1 pint left in the tureen, for, as ordinary soup plates hold only half a pint, it follows that if your tureen be empty, you must have committed the mistake of filling them too full, or your guests must have been gouche enough to require helping twice, neither of which occasions was likely to have happened in these days of refinement. This shall be strained away from the vegetables as soon as it comes from the table and put in a clean jar in the safe. It will make a capital gravy for your rechoufees. Of the smelts you will have at least four remaining. These must be laid aside on a clean plate. Of the side-dishes or entrees there will probably be one-half of each left. These should be lifted on to separate plates, and the gravy belonging to each strained and set aside in clean jars. There will also be at least one fowl untouched and most likely a part of another, about 8 pounds of venison and a bone or two and a quantity of the sauces belonging to each. Don't be alarmed at the apparent waste; don't throw anything away ; put each sauce separately in a jar ; the fowls, duck and pudding on clean plates, and let the whole remain till they are wanted. For the venison you must pursue another rule. Decide how many people you will have to dinner on the morrow; cut a handsome slice for each, just as it comes warm from the table; lay the cut slices in a jar that has a close-fitting lid; pour in enough of the warm gravy to cover them, and put the jar away. The rest of the joint must be put on a dry dish, and the remaining gravy, if any, set aside by itself. The cold fish will make a capital salad or mayonaise. The cold rabbit will make a delightful fricasee, a curry or a pie. The cold pigeons may just be warmed up by placing them in a jar and boiling the jar in water for twenty minutes, boiling the gravy separately and pouring it over them, |
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